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GitLab – A $1B business where all employees work remotely

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Re: GitLab – A $1B business where all employees work remotely

#231

Post by malvosenior »

c0vfefe wrote: post #228
malvosenior wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Everyone does not do this. I work remote and get a fair market rate (for the value I add, not based on where I live). Unfortunately I couldn't apply to Gitlab last time I was in the market for work because their salaries are both lower in general and lowered even further due to geo adjustment. I'm fully a fan and believer of remote work, but you need to pay your employees just like any other top tier company would. I…

> I work remote and get a fair market rate (for the value I add, not based on where I live) Unfortunately there are two misconceptions here: 1) that companies pay based on added value and not on replacement cost, & 2) that "a fair market rate" does not vary with location, when in reality different locations have different labor markets. The reason SV companies pay so much is because their candidates expect it, and pa…

Companies pay what you can negotiate with them. This is based on value add, and alternatives on both sides of the table. If you can pitch the value you create, you can get paid accordingly.

Re: GitLab – A $1B business where all employees work remotely

#232

Post by jl-gitlab »

jeena wrote: post #223
jl-gitlab wrote: post #220

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hey there, PM for CI/CD here. Can you point me to an issue in either GitLab or the Jenkins Plugin repo that has more info specifically on what you're looking to do that isn't possible today? Or share specifically what you need here so I can make one? That other project seems to have a few different features and I'm not sure which use cases exactly are important for you. In any case, we definitely want to make sure yo…

Basically what we need is functionality which makes it possible to do: - there is a canonical git repo for a component - a dev doesn't have write access to it - they fork it into their own private user name space - they change it and create a merge request for the canonical git repo for one of the branches - the merge request creates (or triggers) a job in Jenkins => this is where our research showed that only the un…

Thanks for the super clear description! Doing some internal research on this.

Re: GitLab – A $1B business where all employees work remotely

#233

Post by jl-gitlab »

jeena wrote: post #223
jl-gitlab wrote: post #220

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hey there, PM for CI/CD here. Can you point me to an issue in either GitLab or the Jenkins Plugin repo that has more info specifically on what you're looking to do that isn't possible today? Or share specifically what you need here so I can make one? That other project seems to have a few different features and I'm not sure which use cases exactly are important for you. In any case, we definitely want to make sure yo…

Basically what we need is functionality which makes it possible to do: - there is a canonical git repo for a component - a dev doesn't have write access to it - they fork it into their own private user name space - they change it and create a merge request for the canonical git repo for one of the branches - the merge request creates (or triggers) a job in Jenkins => this is where our research showed that only the un…

I've created https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-ce/issues/64995 - please join us in the conversation there.

Re: GitLab – A $1B business where all employees work remotely

#234

Post by sytse »

froskur wrote: post #200
sytse wrote: post #68

GitLab the company exists because of HN https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4428278 Ask me anything.

The backend engineer position lists ruby experience as a Strict Requirement. The linked explanation makes sense when trying for fast growth. However, the text is about 3 years old now so my question is: Do you expect this policy to change in the near future?

I don't. We had a few hires new to Ruby and I think it took them much longer to get up to speed and more of them never got up to full speed.

Re: GitLab – A $1B business where all employees work remotely

#235

Post by meowface »

malvosenior wrote: post #175
meowface wrote: post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Out of curiosity, how long has your company been in existence for? This seems like something a more established company could do more easily.

It's a startup. I actually find it to be the case that early stage companies are more willing to do remote work. In part because it's a way for them to broaden their options.

Of course, but I think a large part of the incentive for startups to do that is so they can hire high-quality engineers who aren't in SF, so that they don't have to deal with the crazy cost of living expenses when paying salaries, and of course their own costs for living in SF and renting/owning office space there.

So I think I would expect most early-stage remote startups to pay salaries which account for an employee's cost of living (rather than paying a full SF salary whether you live in SF or Montana). But maybe I'm wrong.

Re: GitLab – A $1B business where all employees work remotely

#236

Post by gitlab-security »

evanslify wrote: post #225
sytse wrote: post #68

GitLab the company exists because of HN https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4428278 Ask me anything.

I've interviewed with GitLab when I first changed my career into software engineering, a few years ago. It was a bad call in my opinion since I'm not as good as I thought back then. However, is it a good idea to apply again since that was a long while ago and I've accumulated a considerable amount of experience compared to what I was? And can you do your own independent security research when you're working for GitLa…

Thank you for your post and questions. We would welcome you to apply for a role at GitLab that looks interesting to you. Our guideline for security researchers is that if you are a GitLab employee, you would not be eligible for a bounty award through our public bug bounty program. Other than that, independent security research is fine, as long as it does not call out our customers in a negative manner. Here is our hiring page: https://about.gitlab.com/jobs/faq/

Re: GitLab – A $1B business where all employees work remotely

#237

Post by arihantar »

Aeolun wrote: post #213
thiefmeister wrote: post #208

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am interested in working in GitLab. Do you have some foreign engineers staying in Japan? I want to stay in japan with proper visa if necessary.

As far as I recall from their website. Japan is one of the countries they do not hire in due to what I presume to be legal reasons.

You can look for that info on https://about.gitlab.com/company/team/ As far as I can see there is 1 GitLab employee currently working from Japan.

Re: GitLab – A $1B business where all employees work remotely

#238

Post by c0vfefe »

malvosenior wrote: post #231
c0vfefe wrote: post #228

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I work remote and get a fair market rate (for the value I add, not based on where I live) Unfortunately there are two misconceptions here: 1) that companies pay based on added value and not on replacement cost, & 2) that "a fair market rate" does not vary with location, when in reality different locations have different labor markets. The reason SV companies pay so much is because their candidates expect it, and pa…

Companies pay what you can negotiate with them. This is based on value add, and alternatives on both sides of the table. If you can pitch the value you create, you can get paid accordingly.

It's very hard to quantify the marginal business value given by a single employee, especially if they're just starting in the position.

Economics is driven by scarcity - supply and demand. Companies have no financial incentive to pay us any more than it would take to hire a replacement. They're in the business of making profit, which necessarily means paying people less than the business value they add, and if a company wants to be very profitable, the only way is to pay substantially less than the value received.

So even if you pitch based on value add, you're really just signaling that you have top skills which are in short supply, and they'd better pay you more or else some other company will. They have no obligation or incentive to pay commensurate with value add, only to pay just enough to keep getting the value add.

Re: GitLab – A $1B business where all employees work remotely

#239

Post by meowface »

dragonwriter wrote: post #206
meowface wrote: post #141

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Starting a remote company is a cost-saving tactic, and the ability to often not have to pay SF salaries can be a motivating factor, especially in the early stages of the company.

Sure, if you make a cost-optimization rather than fairness argument for Gitlab’s policy—that it's simply a way of paying every employee the minimum they can get away with—I won’t argue against that.

Well, it's both cost saving and fairness, I think. It just seems like common sense to me. If one employee by default has to subtract something like $4000 from their monthly income to cover living expenses, and another has to subtract something like $700, then the employee who subtracts less is taking home way more money if they're getting the same salary. The other employee is being punished for where they live.
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